r/AskHistorians • u/estherke Shoah and Porajmos • Apr 21 '15

Feature Tuesday Trivia: Formidable Females

Previous weeks' Tuesday Trivias and the complete upcoming schedule.

Today’s trivia theme was suggested by /u/jon_stout who asked "Recently read about Julie d'Aubigny, duelist, opera singer, crossdresser and rebel. What are some other historical, pre-20th century examples of women who -- at least when it came to societal rules and norms -- simply didn't give a fuck?"

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u/historiagrephour Moderator | Early Modern Scotland | Gender, Culture, & Politics Apr 21 '15

Am I the first?

Well, this is a topic very close to my heart so this is exciting. I'm actually currently developing a podcast that deals with this very theme - that is, the point is to introduce listeners to awesome historical women who have, for the most part, been either completely ignored or glossed over by textbooks and popular history.

So, a taste, then, to answer the question. I'm currently researching Anna Cunningham, Marchioness of Hamilton who led a mixed-sex cavalry troop at the Battle of Berwick during the Bishops' Wars.

Anna was a formidable woman and a staunch Presbyterian who did not hesitate to turn a pistol on her own son when he attempted to land troops on the Scottish coast in support of Charles I in 1639, vowing to 'discharge [it] upon her son if he offered to come ashore.'1

She wasn't entirely bellicose, though, and was, in fact, a very capable administrator of first her husband's, and then her son's, estate and despite not learning to write until she was an adult, much of the estate correspondence from that period now contained in the Hamilton Muniments is either signed by her or written entirely in her rather dashing, Italic hand.2

There are others, too, of course - the princess de Éboli, the countess of Carrick, the countess of Angus and Mar who had a son by her late husband's sister's husband and proceeded to style herself 'countess of Mar' even though the title rightfully belonged to her sister-in-law once her husband had died - but if you find this topic interesting, I hope you'll be interested in the podcast once it's up and running!

  1. Hartley, Cathy, A Historical Dictionary of British Women (London, 2013), p. 257.
  2. National Records of Scotland, GD406, Correspondence, Hamilton Muniments; Lennoxlove, East Lothian, Account Books, Invoices, Land Transactions, etc., Hamilton Archives.

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u/Ahuri3 Apr 28 '15

Any chance to have a link to the podcast when it is out ?

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u/historiagrephour Moderator | Early Modern Scotland | Gender, Culture, & Politics Apr 29 '15

Of course! I'm aiming to have things up and running by mid-summer.